S02-1 Physical activity and sedentary behaviour of children aged 6-9 in Europe: an analysis within the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI)

Abstract Background Children are becoming less physically active for a variety of interrelated reasons. The availability of opportunities for safe active playgrounds, recreational activities and active transport has decreased, while time spend on sedentary screen-based activities has increased. This study aimed to evaluate physical activity (PA), sedentary and sleep behaviours of children aged 6-9 years in Europe using data from the WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). Methods The fourth COSI data collection round was conducted in 36 countries from 2015-2018 using a standardized protocol including a family form completed by parents with specific questions about diet and physical activity-related behaviours. Results Nationally representative data from the 24 countries, who filled in the non-mandatory family record form, were included. Information on PA, screen-time and sleep behaviours of 137,807 children were analysed. Pooled analysis showed that: one in two children walked or cycled to school every day; one in two children were members of a sport or dancing club; around 40 % of children spent at least two hours per day watching TV or using electronic devices; around four in five children were actively or vigorously playing each day; around 88 % of children slept for at least nine hours per night. Country specific analyses showed pronounced differences in prevalence estimates between countries. Conclusions While the severity of the problem varies between countries, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviours are common across the European Region. Policy makers across the Region must do more in order to increase opportunities for young people to participate in daily activities. Furthermore, they should explore solutions to reduce the amount of time spend on sedentary activities, in order to halt the rise in overweight and obesity.


Background
Children are becoming less physically active for a variety of interrelated reasons. The availability of opportunities for safe active playgrounds, recreational activities and active transport has decreased, while time spend on sedentary screen-based activities has increased. This study aimed to evaluate physical activity (PA), sedentary and sleep behaviours of children aged 6-9 years in Europe using data from the WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI).

Methods
The fourth COSI data collection round was conducted in 36 countries from 2015-2018 using a standardized protocol including a family form completed by parents with specific questions about diet and physical activity-related behaviours.

Results
Nationally representative data from the 24 countries, who filled in the non-mandatory family record form, were included. Information on PA, screen-time and sleep behaviours of 137,807 children were analysed. Pooled analysis showed that: one in two children walked or cycled to school every day; one in two children were members of a sport or dancing club; around 40 % of children spent at least two hours per day watching TV or using electronic devices; around four in five children were actively or vigorously playing each day; around 88 % of children slept for at least nine hours per night. Country specific analyses showed pronounced differences in prevalence estimates between countries.

Conclusions
While the severity of the problem varies between countries, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviours are common across the European Region. Policy makers across the Region must do more in order to increase opportunities for young people to participate in daily activities. Furthermore, they should explore solutions to reduce the amount of time spend on sedentary activities, in order to halt the rise in overweight and obesity.

Background
Physical activity is key for preventing obesity and development of noncommunicable diseases later in life. Previous research suggests that socioeconomic factors, such as parental education or income, may influence a child's risk of obesity. However, previous research on this has provided heterogeneity in results. Our aim was to investigate the socioeconomic disparities between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep patterns in school-aged children aged 6 to 9 years in 24 European countries, using a large nationally-representative sample of children from 24 countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation -only Moscow, San Marino Republic, Spain, Tajikistan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan). Methods COSI collected information on physical activity patterns of children, sedentary behaviour and sleep duration through a questionnaire filled by parents. Among these, the paper focused on the following behaviours: Transportation to and from schools, Time spent on practising sports, Time spent on actively/vigorously playing, Time spent watching TV or using electronic devices and Hours of sleep per night. For the paper purpose, countries were grouped in 4 macro-regions according to United Nations ''Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use''.

Results
Findings indicated that a high prevalence of motorized school transport among children of employed parents in Southern Europe. The highest prevalence of insufficient sports and active play was among families from West-Central Asia who meet the end of the month with troubles, the highest prevalence of excessive screen time is among families from Eastern Europe, where both parents have a low level of education and the highest prevalence of insufficient sleep is among families from West-Central Asia where both parents have a high level of education.

Conclusions
There are important differences in the socioeconomic determinants of PA, sleep and screen related behaviours both between countries and sub-regions across the WHO European Region. This analysis of results from the COSI survey provides

Background
The establishment of the EU physical activity (PA) guidelines and the HEPA monitoring framework has had an impact on policy development and implementation across the region from 2015. This works presents results from the third round of monitoring in 2021 and discusses trends since 2015. Methods A questionnaire was distributed in 2021 to all EU Member States of the WHO European Region through the network of PA Focal Points, who were requested to collect data from national colleagues and complete the questionnaire. All EU Member States (27 in 2021) responded to the survey on the implementation of the 23 indicators of the HEPA monitoring framework.